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Pr​é​lude

by Ruoho Ruotsi

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about

A rare and unexpected resurfacing of the captivating West Coast-based producer Ruoho Ruotsi, who released 9 records on his De’fchild Productions imprint between 2005 and 2011, collaborating with Tomas Jirku and Hollis P. Monroe among others, before seeming to vanish into life’s many responsibilities. Ruotsi’s sonic jaunts draw upon the visceral aesthetics of dub, techno, garage and impractical melodic leitmotifs from experimental electro-acoustics, fusing them into imaginative new musical opportunities. His music has been described as “vaporous”, “aching and expansive”, “a wicked dub abstraction” or as “Jamaica-meets-Detroit with jazz legend Eric Dolphy”.

The night after he sent me the tracks that appear on Prelude, I dreamt that someone had hand-painted strange, swirling patterns on a dark red tinted light bulb, and then turned the light bulb on inside my head. Since then, I haven’t found a better way to describe them. They’re haunting, absorbing, enchanting. They create their own listening environment. They have the power to change your mind.

Each track on Prelude is a unique spatial tapestry. “Prélude à l'après-midi d'un Buzz” meanders through an impressionist landscape, the chugging beat a tense counterpoint to the drifting, breathing melodic formations that fold in and out on themselves. “Na Me U Dey Follow Talk” (“are you talking to me?”) in Nigerian Pidgin, is an exercise in psychedelic vocal experimentation tied to a dub backbone, "the cacophony of everyone talking and no one being heard." “La Brume Sur Buri Buri” hangs an understated rhythm in riveting suspended meditation, the melodies and textures recalling cloud formations and rolling fog unique to the SF Bay Area, the name a tribute to the original owners of the land.

More Ruoho Ruotsi: ruohorecords.bandcamp.com

credits

released June 15, 2021

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Unfulfillment + Stranger Ways recordings Montreal, Québec

A DIY labour of love since 2014. Abstract sounds to dance, dream, or freak out to. Limited edition records and tapes with rudimentary designs. Priority to under-appreciated and unknown artists. Demos welcome.

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